Hello folks! I'm pretty much a newb in the sport, having gotten my A license only a few months ago. Unfortunately I live far from my home DZ (Skydive DeLand) so I only get to jump every couple of months or so (I'm becoming an expert on filling out the recurrency form). My question is the following: what should be my next steps in the sport? I am looking forward to start doing freefly (sitfly in particular), and I feel sometimes I am wasting my money just belly flying solo in every jump. Should I start RW before moving to freefly? Is it too early to do either of those things? I only have 31 jumps, and I am VERY safety focused, I just don't really know what the right moment would be to start moving past belly flying. Thanks a bunch for the advice! If it helps at all, here's my latest recurrency jump video: http://quase.us/j28

This is not an answer to your question but another noob approach to a similar question.

Because of the way things happen at our DZ I am often faced with the choice to sit on the ground or go solo. My current sort term goals are, 1. Getting better at belly flying and getting my B 2. Tracking, I just love to track 3. Pre-freefly training (flying stable on my back)

So I mix it up depending on how I feel and if I have to go solo or not. If I have to go solo I will often exit on my back, try to learn to stay stable on my back, then flip over to my belly when I get to spinning too much or at break off altitude. I might do a solo track and work on my form/distance/speed. Or I might practice the B check dive maneuvers. I will find some way to create a challenge and see if I can learn something on each jump. But I also find something fun that I want to do and include that in most jumps. Changing up the exit is fun for me, as well.

1) Figure out a way to jump more frequently. Deland's a great DZ, but is there anywhere closer to you that you could visit more frequently? I say this because if you want your skills to progress, jumping more than every couple of months will help. You can certainly fly safely flying infrequently, but having to get recurrent every time will cost you more and your skills won't progress all that quickly.

2) Don't jump alone (much). You'll learn a lot more flying relative to one or two other people than you'll learn flying alone. But keep your jumps small for a while.

3) Take advantage of any skills camps, scrambles, organizing, fun competitions, etc., that you're eligible for. Find out what's going on at all the DZs and join in at different events. Some events may be looking for more experienced jumpers, but a lot of them will welcome everyone with an A license. (I know Skydive City in Zephyrhills regularly hosts 4-way scrambles, which are tons of fun and a great way for newer jumpers to jump with and learn from more experienced folks).

4) Stay on your belly for a while. Partly because of the infrequency of your jumping, but partly because it'll make you a better skydiver overall even if you do eventually decide to focus on freefly. You'll be able to work on key lifesaving skills like diving, docking, tracking, breakoff, general awareness at a slower speed than a freefly jump. Everything you learn on your belly will be usable when you freefly, trust me - none of it will go to waste.

Im working on my AFF at deland. Once I finish and am cleared, I'd love to jump with you! If you want haha, I'm a little ways away from that though, still on AFF3. I hope to get my A license before next summer. I'm constantly trying to meet new people at deland. But as a new student, don't really get much of a chance yet and with my red jumpsuit and helmet radio, most look at me like a tourist anyways and don't get much more then a hello wave. I'll get there though. hopefully lol